A new dog can be perfectly happy pulling you over, down the street and nearly choking themselves out

Let’s talk about leash pressure, or pressure in general. Different dogs will react differently when they first experience the leash.

Problems worsen when the dog is pulling. Sure, because the animal has to work hard to stay focused on his or her task at hand. The dog can be pulling towards a distraction, or traveling back to us. We can add leash pressure to either one of these situations. We could also look at the dog’s energy level. Are they at a high or low level of energy? Is the dog in an instinctual drive, perhaps chasing an animal?

Mini & Cooper, two dachshunds, at the farmer’s market.

We are bringing these things up so that we don’t unintentionally create the opposite of what we are trying to do. Many of the training collars available on the market are aimed at making it more clear to the dog whether he or she is feeling the pressure of the leash or not. Here’s a list of a few common anti-pulling devices: halties, chokers, pinch/prong collars, dominate dog collars, chest harness’s ,Cezars Pack Leader collar and more.

A dog that is following you, will take directions very well. He’s already following you and focused on you, so this is a great starting point for any additional tasks you may ask of the dog. Just getting the dog to commit to the task of walking where you walk will create a great deal of focus. Pulling on the leash should be a signal for the dog to come to you. If a dog is new to this kind of training exercise, they may resist your leash, or constantly be pursuing other lines of interest. As you begin to put it into practice, the problems will seem to lessen as your dog more easily can commit to and stay in the behavior of following you, or walking with you.

Most dog owners make this mistake of wearing the dogs collar too low. 2 inches can make a world of difference in how responsive your dog is to the leash. A harness that attaches the leash to the dogs back gives us little to no control over the dogs movements. In comparison, a head halter that wraps around the dogs muzzle will give us a lot of control over our dog.

You got your leash on your dog, now it’s time to do something with it.

Step one: Do nothing. If you’d like to tether your dog somewhere for a moment, that’s ok to. Your dog will learn that the leash is restricting him or her from traveling to many different distractions.

Step two: With the leash in hand now, start traveling around behind your dog and teaching him to turn towards you. The turn is the first step to a dog traveling in a straight line to you.

Step Three: Start reeling your dog in, keeping a close eye on how the dog is responding. If the dog really struggles on flat ground, you can start on a hill, or in a doorway. Using the leash to get your dog comfortably moving in and out of vehicles can be another good starting point.

Bad behavior on leash is a common problem, but don’t fret. There are people that have been through what you’re going through. Most professional dog trainers can help you get your dogs leash behavior under control. The bigger the dog the more important it is to teach good leash response and make a point of maintaining your expectation of what should happen.

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Female Two Year Old Fully Trained AKC Belgian Malinois Protection Dog For Sale

Dancer running dog bite. Photo credit to Nyi Maung.

Pretty Dancer

Dancer – You gotta Love this tongue!

Dancer caught this one!

Dancer’s awesome athletic ability!

Beautiful Dancer

Dancer flying! Photo credit to Nyi Maung.

Dancer is a 2 year old AKC registered fully trained Belgian Malinois, for sale. We the trainers got her at 12 weeks old and have trained her since she was a puppy. There is no reason to sell her other than we are trainers and we’re always looking for the next dog to train once our current dog is fully trained. Dancer is very people and dog friendly but also an excellent watch dog at the same time. She lights up very easily and has natural protective instincts. She has a lot of drive and runs out fast and returns fast with any retrieve. She is a smaller Malinois at approximately 40 pounds. She strengths are that she has an excellent bite with a powerful impact despite her size, loves to swim and is very fast on land and in water. She would be an excellent police dog, personal protection dog or sport dog. She is great because she is a very safe protection dog, meaning you can take her anywhere you go and she has natural protective instincts if you told her to “watch” and “guard” a stranger. She will alert with any stranger coming on the property but is also good with people she knows. She has excellent obedience, all commands are proofed and trained with distance and distractions. She is very reliable, her training is crisp and clear and she’s very impressive and commanding despite her cuteness. Here is a list of her commands:

Dancer is a serious dog and will do best in a home with older children. Put in your order for a fully trained Malinois if interested as we only fully train a few dogs a year. 352-603-0090

Here are videos of her progress with training:

Please note, Dancer had a bone laceration on the second toe on her back left leg that had to be amputated at the beginning of June 2015. It is not noticeable and she runs on her foot without issues. Please inquire for more details.

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If you own more than one dog, it is a good idea to teach them to know their name.

Especially if you have your dogs off leash in places where there can be potential dangers. You may need to call one dog, but
stop the other. You may have simple boundary issues in the house or car and you want to address one of your dogs. Imagine
the confusion that could happen if your dog is unsure if you are talking to them!

Here’s a few different exercises that we can plug into our routine with our dog.

Release the dog on his name. Start off by doing this at a doorway or your dogs kennel. Asking them to sit while you open the door and ask your dog to wait there until you say their name. This is a common practice for hunting dogs, as many hunters have multiple dogs or their hunting buddies might bring a dog. We like to say the dog is honoring. This means that the dog will stay in one spot while another dog does the retrieve.

Work dogs individually

Use the dogs name a lot during the training session. Make sure your dog that is honoring is in ear shot so he starts to understand that when he hears the other dogs name, he should be neutral to it and is not to react.

Keep one dog in a command, in his kennel, or on a bed

Using barriers like kennels, beds, cars, and entry ways will help you have a much greater success rate as they offer a physical reference point for the dog. Further more, it offers a marker for the owner so he or she can see if their dog has moved at all. At a more advanced level you can teach your dog to stay on their favorite ball or toy. A frisbee is great because it’s perfectly round and a dog can feel it with his feet. When all is done, you can ask your dog to pick up their portable place board- or their frisbee!

Lets give you an example with a vehicle. The Dogs helping us out are Brees and Drew, a couple of well trained pitbulls.

Train the dog to give eye contact

This is a foundation skill that all dogs should learn to do right away. Having the dog look into your eyes is a great way for them to learn to stay calm and steady. Try to make this a regular part of your routine. This will help us tremendously as you start switching back and forth between your dogs. Make sure you have their eye contact before giving any other commands. We always condition the dog to do this in his basic obedience. Sit with eye contact, down with eye contact, etcetera.

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No, you don’t have to have a special degree as a Master Dog Trainer to teach your dog to ring the bell to relieve him or herself.

It’s this easy folks.1 link the Bell with your dogs food.

You can put a big bell hanging in your dogs food bowl if you want. If you choose a desk type bell, you can hide a training treat under the bell.

2 Shape the Behavior.

Go as far or as little as you want. We want to hear the bells, however he hits it is up to you. If you hang your bell on nice wood, I would suggest the dog uses his nose. Some dog owners don’t mind if the dog uses their paw because the bells ring louder that way.

3 Cue the Behavior

Start telling your dog your “cue” word that you will use to ask for the behavior. “Ring your Bell” is fine. As the dog starts recognizing the game that you have established starting saying your “cue” during the training session.

The rest is history.

Hang your bell where you want- near the door hopefully, and make sure to tell him your “cue” every time you let him out.

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Basic Training 101

When you start training your dog it’s important to start with general concepts and later move to more specifics. This is the best way to build a solid foundation of understanding and control. At the root of any taught behavior is your dogs ability to control his or her urges and “stay” in a command.

Lets split this up into 3 Categories of staying.

Staying on or in a designated area. This can be a kennel, a bed, a car, a raised area, a grassy area, and anything you can come up with. Sky’s the limit. These can be large area’s like your yard, or as small as a coin. Here’s a video example of a frisbee used as a place.

Staying next to you. This is where our “come” or “heel” commands come from. It’s one of the easiest for many breeds, because they are already focused on you and because you are also the one talking to them. For some of the more independent breeds like many Husky’s or Beagles, that are used to figuring things out for themselves, we may want a different approach.

Staying in a position. Teaching your dog a position is similar to what a professional golfer does when he practices his golf swing. You are training the muscles to remember. Singers train their voices, dancers train their body’s to move a certain way, and when we train a dog in a position, we do the same thing. We are training the dogs to have muscle memory. This way they don’t have to consciously think about their position, it will be trained in and they can recall it instantly.

The last element that has to be added to this mix is the ability to work your dog a midst distractions. There are a certain amount of distractions that you will encounter on a regular basis such as small animals, other dogs and loud noises including thunder and noisy trucks. Working out in public places is a must, and while you can’t train for everything, you can cover your bases and your dog will generalize the rest.

Now you know what’s involved in committing to a stay, it’s time to train your dog! Would you like to work with Attention Dog Training’s head trainer Darrel Hager? Contact us HERE.